Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks have teamed up to pay tribute to one of the best actors we lost too soon, with the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.” Hanks knew the Canadian comedy legend personally as a child and directed the documentary, which is now streaming on Prime Video. It recounts the remarkable life of the great actor, who died in 1994 at the age of 43. Esteemed contributors to the project include Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, who was a friend of Candy and appeared alongside her in several films. However, getting his involvement proved tricky at best.
/Film’s Ethan Anderton attended a Q&A after the Chicago screening of “John Candy: I Like Me,” during which Reynolds shared how he managed to convince the “Ghostbusters” star to participate in the documentary. Clearly, Aykroyd and Bill Murray were “unobtainable”, or rather, they were almost impossible to get because both actors ended up appearing in the film. In Aykroyd’s case, however, Reynolds had to wait for the legend to contact him. “Nobody knew where he was. Nobody,” he said. “I finally got a call, because I guess word got out that I was looking for him, and all I got was this. [in a voice imitating Dan Aykroyd’s quick, succinct speech patterns]’Ryan, it’s Dan. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do, kid. You come here. You have dinner with me. You spend the night. In the morning, you do the interview, and then you leave.'”
According to Reynolds, Aykroyd actually picked him up at the airport, probably because, as Reynolds says, “I think he didn’t want me to know where he lived.” But not only did Aykroyd pick him up, he did so in one of the Lincoln Town Cars from the 1997 comedy “Grosse Point Blank.” “One of my favorite movies of all time is ‘Grosse Point Blank,'” Reynolds explained, “[…] I said, “Dan, is that the car from Grosse Point Blank?” and he said, “Yeah. I got five as a kid for $50,000 from the movie. So I was in fucking heaven.”
